


Smile for Me

by LinguisticJubilee



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: M/M, but is really just a tiny piece of fluff, this started out fluff and gained emotions along the way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 22:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1527752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinguisticJubilee/pseuds/LinguisticJubilee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Smile for me, kid," Bucky says.</p>
<p>And Steve does.  Every time he says it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smile for Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [waroftheposes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/waroftheposes/gifts).



“Smile for me, kid,” Bucky says.  Steve is 10, Bucky is 11, and Bucky doesn’t know it yet, but this skinny little kid’s about to become his best friend.  Right now, though, all he’s worried about is whether or not those shits managed to knock out any of the little guy’s teeth.

Steve smirks obligingly, showing off his bloody lip, and  _no wonder_ he was getting beat up, Bucky never knew you could pack so much attitude into a tiny little body.  Bucky just rolls his eyes.  “Open wide,” he orders, and thank god, the blood is from a cut on the inside of his cheek.  “Why didn't you just run away, kid?”

The smirk just gets wider.  “Why didn’t you just let them hit me?”

Bucky raises an eyebrow.  “I guess I don’t like bullies.”  

“Exactly.”

***

“Smile for me,” Steve croaks out, and he sees Bucky startle awake in his chair by the bed.  Steve is 15, Bucky’s 16, and if Steve’s hazy memories are accurate, this last fever cut a lot closer to fatal than he would've liked.  Steve’s whole body aches, but in that clear, lucid way that tells him he’s made it out to the other side.

Bucky straightens up and rubs his hands over his face.  “Ain’t been much to smile about lately, Stevie,” he says into his palms.

“Tough shit,” Steve says, and Bucky snorts, lifting his head to glare at Steve. He’s got a tiny grin on his face though, and that’s all Steve wanted anyways.

***

“Smile for me.” Steve is 25 and Bucky is 27, but Bucky doesn't actually say the words to Steve.  He tells Steve a lot of other things, like “punk” and “don’t take home stray cats,” but this, his last greatest wish, is too scary to put a voice to.  So he saves it for the ship ride over to England, when America is a faint line on the horizon.  “Smile for me, kid,” he tells the water, and hopes Steve understands.

***

“Hey. Steve. Hey. Hey. Smile for me.”  Bucky is still 27, but Steve is 26, having passed a birthday punching Hitler in Cleveland, Ohio.  Bucky’s drunk, and he knows that, okay? But sobriety belongs to people  ~~ who weren't tortured ~~  whose best friends didn't suddenly become enormous.  Bucky can’t quite keep his eyes off of Steve’s new body, and neither can any of the dames in the bar.  And Steve looks good, no, Bucky means he looks  _good_ , but there’s something -- “Hey. Steve. Steve.”

Steve turns around,  _finally_ , and looks at him.  “What, jerk?” he says sternly, but it’s an act, because the stern parts don’t reach his eyes, which shine brightly.  Steve is  _smiling._

And yeah, now Steve looks right.

***

Steve is 27, or maybe he’s 93, and Bucky’s been dead for seventy years, but Steve only lost him months ago.  Someone at SHIELD begins the long process of digging up all of his old possessions.  They've been divvied up between people’s children and grandchildren, museums and private collectors, but eventually a few begin to trickle back to Steve.  One of the first things to be reclaimed is a faded picture of Bucky, leaning against a tree in a European forest and frowning into the distance.  Steve remembers that day: it was a publicity op Bucky refused to participate in.  Steve indulged him, as he indulged Bucky in everything since the escape from Zola’s torture factory.  Steve runs his fingertips over the photo, wishing he had a picture of the other Bucky, before Hydra got their hands into his mind.  “Smile for me, Buck,” he whispers.  “Just one more time.  Please.”

***

“Smile for me,” a voice behind Steve commands him.  He turns sharply on the park bench, and Bucky steps out of the shadows.  Steve is 95 and Bucky is 96, and they’re both here, in a green, sunny park in the twenty-first century.  Bucky is dressed in jeans and a hoodie, and Steve knows just like he knows that there are ducks in the pond and leaves on the tree that the man standing in front of him is  _Bucky_ ,  not the weapon he fought in the streets of DC or the broken thing he and Sam have been chasing since.

Bucky takes a step forward, his eyes never leaving Steve’s.  “Smile for me,” he says again, his voice serious.  “Whenever -- in my memories, you are always smiling.”

A laugh leaves Steve’s chest, surprising him.  “Sure, Buck,” he says, and smiles.  A big, cheesy, goofball smile that he can’t stop once it starts.  He laughs again.  “I’ll do anything you want.”  

They stay like that, Steve laughing, Bucky staring, for a long time.  


End file.
